Plans
by DoctorLazarus
Summary: It's 3 years later, and PAW Patrol's original team are planning to retire. Everyone's seemingly planned for what they'll do after they're finished rescuing, all except one certain Dalmatian...
1. Chapter 1

Chase and Skye had been dating for a little over 5 months now. It doesn't sound like a lot, but do keep in mind that it's like 3 years in human terms. Everyone was happy for them although by that point people were starting to bug Chase on whether he was going to make it official and get married and have kids or something, to which Chase always replies with an "Jeez, I'm still a pup guys." Except they really weren't. Ryder was nearing 14 now and while the PAW Patrol was still active, there was a rumour that he was planning on retiring them and getting a fresh set of hands that are more nimble. Of course, Ryder would never actually do that sort of thing – he's grown too fond of the lot and would rather disband the entire operation together – but those who don't know any better seem to think that Chase would need to grow up and be the leader once they left the team.

Chase doubts it. If they really were to quit – it wasn't a matter of if, actually, but when – they would most likely go their separate ways. He and Skye would probably go together and either head on a romantic honeymoon while Rubble might hang on for a few more years – being the youngest member of the PAW Patrol, he still had plenty of strife left in him and could participate in any risky missions for a while yet. In fact, in recent times when the PAW Patrol was faced with anything particularly dangerous in which Chase and the others lack nimbleness from their puphood, Rubble was the one to take over. Thankfully, Ryder had anticipated it coming and trained Rubble to operate all seven PAW Patrol rescue vehicles: Marshall, Chase, Rocky, Zuma, Skye, Everest and of course, his own bulldozer.

Rocky and Zuma, interestingly, had started to see each other as more than friends, and these days it's not common to see them snuggling close to each other or going on walks on the beach, Rocky insisting on being five feet away from the shoreline at all times while Zuma wants to run and feel the water lapping on his paws. That created the rather awkward scenario that, while they were dating, they maintained a good distance from each other and if you saw only one of them you might not even know he was with someone else. That's probably why they prefer to be doing other activities, Chase mused, like eating spaghetti not unlike that scene from the Lady and Tramp movie. Chase remembers it quite fondly, because it was the first movie he and Skye had watched together on Ryder's pup pad (to which he then spent three hours searching for before noticing Chase was using it. Chase got a pretty big telling off.)

Everest might be the newest member of the PAW Patrol but she certainly isn't the youngest. Since she's always up at Jake's Mountain no one's really got the chance to ask her on what her plans are when, or if, she retires. If Chase were to guess, Everest would probably either keep working as a rescue pup, or she might hop over to Captain Turbot's ship and head back to the Antarctic where she used to live. Then again, she might go on a tour of the world with Mayor Goodway – she'd always been that sort of adventurous pup. No one took the Mayor to be that type, though, so it came as a surprise to everyone when she announced that, after she steps down as Mayor of Adventure Bay, she plans to explore the globe in a hot air balloon with Chickaletta.

That left only Marshall. Funny thing is, even though Chase and Marshall used to be close, Chase can't really remember the last them they talked together. Chase had no clue on what Marshall was planning to do in the future. Feeling a twinge of regret, Chase had told Skye that he was heading out for a breath of fresh air and headed over to Marshall's pup house. And that's why Chase is here now, standing outside the door but hesitating to knock.

"He might be busy…" Chase muttered to himself, before losing his nerve and putting his paw down. There was a feeling of unsettledness in his stomach that he couldn't quite explain why. Turning around, Chase headed back towards the lookout, only to come face to face with Marshall, standing behind him with a puzzled look on his face.

"Chase?" Marshall cocked his head slightly, eyebrow raised in question. He didn't say anything, but Chase knew that he was asking, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, er, hey Marshall." For some reason, Chase couldn't bring himself to speak, but he took a deep breath and forced it out. "I was just wondering what you were planning to do after you…you know…after Ryder disbands the team."

"The team?" Marshall looks at Chase, down at the ground, then back at Chase. "Well, I'll be with Ryder, I guess."

"Marshall, you know Ryder would be working with Rubble. They won't have time to take care of you or anything of that sort. Have you thought of a backup plan?"

"Nonsense." Marshall brushes Chase's worries away with a wave of his paw. "I've been with Ryder the longest. Of course he has time for me."

"No, what I mean is – you can't go along with them on missions and everything when you're too old to anymore. You'd be like a third wheel. Have you – got someone to take care of you?" Marshall didn't answer. Chase now knew what he was dreading, that Marshall was likely to be spending many nights alone. Something else curled up in his stomach, the feeling of compassion that Marshall would probably be lying in bed staring off into blank space while everyone else was off either on a date, a rescue mission or in a hot air balloon over France. Could Chase just go off and leave Marshall all alone by himself? No, Chase was not that sort of person.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find that certain someone." Chase comforted Marshall, though some part of his brain told him that he couldn't be sure on that.

"I can't…live like this anymore."

"What?"

"I can't live like this anymore, Chase. Everyone's seemingly so happy but me. I've got no one that I can spend my days with, not even a friend."

"What about-"

"You're my friends, remember? You and Skye, Zuma and Rocky, Rubble and Ryder and Everest and Mayor Goodway…who have I got left who can spend time with me? You're right, Chase. I've got no one, no one who I can run up to and not feel like the awkward person tagging along, not wanted. I'm clumsy and I've been made fun of and now I'm just like a dirty towel, only fit to be thrown away." There were tears in his eyes now. "I'm so…alone in this world, and what's really there to live for? Goodnight, Chase." With that, Marshall entered his pup house, leaving a very confused Chase outside.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's a classic example of pent-up emotions. See, when the subject feels sad and depressed, his mind starts to believe that there is no more good in the world. It's a case where, over the months Marshall has thought that everyone else seems to have gotten a mate and made plans but forgotten about him, and he feels sad. With you confronting him, Chase, he's finally let all those bottled up feelings go, and now we get Marshall sobbing in his fire truck."

After Marshall had shut himself inside his pup house Chase had tried to contact Marshall to no avail. Worried, he'd called Ryder on his pup tag, who immediately called Katie. Thankfully, as well as being a vet Katie had also had plenty of training on psychology.

"So now what do we do?" Ryder asks Katie. "Poor Marshall, I had no idea he was feeling like that. He always seemed so jolly and carefree."

"I think that's actually heightening the problem. He acts that way because he doesn't want us to know, to get worried about him. Of course, that just creates a feedback loop where Marshall gets more and more sad because we don't pay attention to him. When was the last time you had a nice chit chat with Marshall?" All Katie got was static, since neither Ryder nor Chase wanted to admit they hadn't spent quality time with him for months; Ryder being preoccupied with teaching Rubble, Chase spending time with Skye. Both felt guilt as they realised what they had inadvertently done to the Dalmatian.

"See, what you need to do is to go and spend a day or two together, so Marshall can realize that we still care about him and haven't forgotten he exists. Of course, we'd also have to think about how we can deal with Marshall since he does need a companion with him. But for now, Chase, I think it's wise if you went and spent some time with the Dalmatian. You're the closest with him, after all. Ryder, you also need to spend some more time with him and not focus all your attention to Rubble."

Though Katie couldn't see it, Chase had already sprinted off to Marshall's pup house. Knocking on the door got him no answer at first but Chase persisted until he was greeted by a dozy Marshall. "Yeah?"

"Geez, Marshall, you look terrible. Is everything alright?" Marshall didn't answer. "Come on, your outburst just now had me all worried. I hope you realize that we haven't forgotten about you, bud."

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound very fine. Come on, let me in and we'll talk." Marshall backed up from the entrance, which Chase took as an invitation to enter. It was rather cramped inside but Chase didn't mind.

"So, what exactly did you want to talk about." Marshall sounded really bummed out. How long had Marshall been like this?

"Marshall, I think you're upset because everyone else has had a girlfriend or awesome plans and it seems like everyone's forgotten about you. I think it's important for you to know that we haven't. No matter what happens, we won't forget our friends, and of course, if you need us we'll be at your side."

"Thanks, Chase, but I'm not really upset at the thought of being alone. I'll manage. There's just something else that's been upsetting me. I'm not sure how to approach the problem and I've just been having a really bad time with it recently. So don't worry about me, I'm fine."

"If you told me your problem, maybe I could help."

"I really don't think it's something you can help, Chase. Now go away and leave me in peace." Marshall tried to push Chase out of his fire truck / house, but Chase wouldn't budge. "Look, Marshall, I'm not leaving here until I get an explanation for your behaviour lately. I'm worried about you." Marshall tried to move Chase again, but the pup was as stubborn as ever. It was then that Marshall stepped on something and slipped, falling onto his back. The object in question was a bottle, which rolled over to Chase until it made a gentle clink on his paw. Chase picked it up.

"Marshall, what's this? Have you been drinking?" In reply, Marshall snatched the bottle away from Chase and took a gulp. "So what if I am? It's only a little alcohol. It makes me feel better." Chase was going to object but then had an idea: maybe after a few drinks Marshall would open up and talk to him about whatever was bothering him. And so it came that Marshall drank 3 bottles of beer and after that was feeling very drunk indeed.

"Ugh…I don't feel so good." Marshall sat down with a dazed look in his eyes, muttering something incomprehensible. Chase decided that now was the time to talk.

"Marshall, mind telling me what's been bothering you?"

"God, Chase…what the hell am I going to do with my life? You're right that I have no plans for my future when the PAW Patrol disbands. It seems like I've got no one who can take care of me. Maybe you could before but since you're dating Skye and not me…bleeeeuuugggghhhh." The last line was from Marshall throwing up before passing out. Chase tried to wake him, but to no avail.

"Well, he's out cold…" Chase muttered to himself. It was probably a better idea to get Katie's opinion on this. Strange – something Marshall said had seemed peculiar to Chase, but he couldn't quite put his finger – er, paw – on it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chase backed out of Marshall's pup house and bumped into something. Turning around, he came face-to-face with Ryder, a worried look on his face. "Hey Chase, I was coming over to see what's up with Marshall. Did you talk to him? Is he OK?" Chase explained the situation to him and he frowned.

"Hmm. That's not good. You're right that it seems Marshall needs our help. I'm not really sure what to do in this situation, considering all the members of the PAW Patrol have got their own plans. Can't very well break up anyone or postpone them; it'd be unfair to them. Hmm…" Ryder rubbed the few hairs on his chin that he referred to as a beard. Everyone else disagreed, of course, but it would be rude to say that to his face.

"Marshall, are you in here?" Ryder took a peek inside Marshall's pup house. "Huh. Seems like he's sleeping. I won't wake him for now. Chase, what do you think we should do?"

"I don't know, Ryder. I mean, I unfortunately don't have time to spend with him which is rather unfortunate, and neither does anyone else, realistically. It's a shame that in recent years with the increasing heat there's been a lot more tourists up at Jake's mountain, or Everest might be able to come down every so often and help. Can't you pull some time from your schedule, Ryder? I mean, you did know him the longest." Ryder shook his head.

"I'd love to Chase, but as you said, there's been a lot more tourists. Unfortunately it means I won't be able to pull nearly as much time as I was able to in the past years. Haven't you noticed that we often have to go on 2 or even 3 rescues in a single day? Of course, Marshall's age is starting to show or he can tag along on the missions. It's a shame, really – he loved going on rescues, and now he has to hang back and let Rubble do most of the work, or Everest."

"I think it's time that I invested in a new group of pups. I can't very well call Everest every time we go on another mission; as I've said, she has her own work up at Jake's. Take care, Chase. Take care, Marshall." Ryde tried to pet Marshall but after reaching in and realizing his arm wasn't long enough, he gave up and just waved at the sleeping canine. With that, he left for the lookout, again leaving Chase alone with Marshall, the former whom looked at the latter with sadness in his eyes.

"Oh, Marshall. I hadn't even told Ryder about you drinking. What are we going to do with you?" Chase huddled closer to him. "It seems like the world has moved on and left you behind. Left us behind. No one cares about incapable pups – well, I guess we're dogs now." Another shuffle, bringing Chase closer to Marshall. "It's funny. I remember a few years ago when all I wanted to do is grow up and be big and strong. Now I realize I'm actually past my prime and is just waiting for…well." Chase shuffled yet again. Now he was pretty much next to Marshall. Chase could smell the light whiff of alcohol that was coming from Marshall. Tentatively, he stuck his tongue out and gave his face a lick, which evolved into lapping at the cheeks of his sleeping best friend. Was it the alcohol, or was it something else? Chase didn't know, but whatever it was his actions were bringing him closer and closer to…

"Uggghhhh." Marshall's eyes slowly opened and Chase jumped back. "What on earth happened? Man, my head…feels so weird. And why is my face all wet?" Marshall rubbed his face with his paw, looking at the fluid that glistened on it. "Have I been lying in a puddle of water? Chase, what are you doing here?"

Thankfully it was dark enough inside that Marshall couldn't see the slight blush on Chase. "Uh, Marshall. Good to see you're awake. Ryder and I were discussing about your predicament."

"Have you decided on what to do?"

"Sadly, no." Somehow, Marshall's ears drooped even further. "I mean, not just yet. But don't worry, because I promise you we'll find you a solution, even if it's the last thing I do!"

"Thanks, Chase. You're a dear. Skye is so lucky to have you." Marshall muttered something under his breath, which Chase could swear was something along the lines of "lucky bitch". Nah, he probably just misheard.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Hey, thanks for the reviews and favourites! Glad to see people liking this. Some people have managed to guess my original plot so ahem ahem, rewrite.

* * *

Zuma and Skye were playing water polo in the bay while Rocky was apparently in a giant hamster ball. Oh well, at least he was in, err, on the water. It's a start.

"Are you sure you don't wanna join in, dude?" Zuma looked over at his boyfriend lazing about in the ball. "It's totally hot today and you're just lounging about in the sun."

"You need to get over your fear of water, Rocky." Skye said as she did a front flip, hitting the polo ball over to Zuma. Zuma responded by using his muzzle to spin the ball, not unlike a seal, before tossing it back to Skye.

"No thanks, you two, but I'd much rather be safe and sound in here. You know how I hate water, Zuma." Zuma shrugged and continued his game with Skye. Skye had done two front flips this time and hit the ball back, but it bounced on the net and rolled over to the beach where it found Chase. With a thud the ball lay at his paws.

"Hey Chase, what's up? Wings!" At Skye's command, her pup pack sprang to life and emerged the familiar miniature jet engine, which Skye used to glide gracefully before doing a bunch of acrobatic moves, landing perfectly onto the ball. Chase smiled. Zuma and Rocky looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"You want to come play water polo with us, Chase? It's a hot summer day and I think it's perfect for such a thing." Chase shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, Skye, but I've got something I need to discuss. See, it's about Marshall." Chase explained the situation to her. Rocky and Zuma also listened, eyes growing wide in concern.

"Oh dear. That does sound like a bit of an issue. Are we sure everyone's busy? You and me, Zuma and Rocky, Rubble and Ryder, Everest and either Jake or Mayor Goodway…it does seem like everyone is occupied." Skye got off the polo ball and started walking around on the sand, thinking. "Hmm…"

"Aw man, I can't believe we neglected Marshall all those months! Poor guy must be so sad, to see everyone else happy together and he himself has no one to go to." Zuma had gotten out of the water and was now falling Skye's example, hitting the polo ball idly. The ball bounced and hit Rocky's giant hamster ball.

"I think-" Rocky began to say, but before he could go further the tags on all of their collars beeped. "Rocky, Chase, Zuma, Skye. Report to the lookout." The four pups looked at each other, the same question in all their minds: Why only them? And why the difference in tone? Ryder sounded so serious. Regardless, all four pups ran as quickly as they could towards the lookout, heading into the elevator. Rocky, on account of his being in a giant hamster ball, couldn't stop in time and bowled over the other three, lying in a pile on the floor.

"Rocky, why are you even in a giant sphere anyway?" Asked Chase, exasperated.

"It's my waterproof water protection anti-water ball." Replied Rocky. "Remember when we cleaned up Adventure Bay for the Tidiest Town Competition? I saved all the plastic water bottles and made this." With that, the elevator started ascending, though when they reached the top, none of them were in their uniforms. Rocky was still in his hamster ball.

"Huh? This is weird. Where's my pup pack?" Asked Zuma.

"Rocky, what in the world is that thing?" Ryder and Rubble were standing next to the TV screen that they had many debriefings on.

"It's my waterproof water-"

"Never mind that!" Chase said, "PAW Patrol reporting for duty, Ryder sir! Sorry about not being in uniform, there seems to be an issue with…"

"I know, I disabled it. We're not going on a rescue, guys. We're here to discuss Marshall." Ryder plonked himself down onto a beanbag chair. "Did Chase tell you about the predicament yet?" All heads nodded in agreement. "Good, then we can move on to the next part: finding a solution for Marshall. Anyone have any ideas?" Unfortunately, no one did. It seemed like the entire town was busy on one thing or another. Half an hour passed before Ryder gave up and called the meeting to a close. Disappointed, the pups headed back down to their pup houses for the night.

"Oh, and that reminds me, PAW Patrol. A new pup would be coming in tomorrow. I'd like everyone to be up at 7 to greet him." At this, the pups immediately turned back, asking Ryder a flurry of questions.

"A new one? You said you would rather disband PAW Patrol!"

"Who is he? What's he look like?"

"Is he going to be replacing us? You'd need more than one pup!"

"Wait, you never told me about this! Ryder!"

Ryder raised his hand to get the pups to quiet down, which they did. "Everyone, I know this is rather sudden, but I promised you everything would be explained. Now please go to sleep; you'd need to rest if you want to be up and early in the morning." With that, Ryder headed back into his room, and the pups discussed this news excitedly all the way back down to their respective homes.


	5. Chapter 5

Chase couldn't sleep. He was too worried about Marshall; being his best friend, Chase still didn't quite forgive himself for not spending more time with the Dally over the years. Plus, he was still wondering about who the new pup is going to be. At midnight he gave up and decided to take a stroll around the lookout for a breath of fresh air.

Passing by the front door he heard a noise. Peeking in, Chase saw Marshall sprawled out on one of the myriad cushions lying about the living room floor; the TV was showing Apollo the Super Pup, but a quick look told Chase that Marshall wasn't paying attention and was probably deep in his own thoughts, Walking over gently, he gave Marshall a gentle pat on the shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, Chase. It's you. What are you doing up so late?"

"I could ask you the same question, Marshall. What are you doing?"

"I was bored, so I decided to watch some reruns of Apollo."

"Really, 'cos it looked like you were thinking."

"Nah, just watching a show."

"You also seem pretty upset," Chase said, indicating the tub of ice cream next to the cushion. Marshall kicked it away.

"Don't be ridiculous. Can't a guy eat while watching a show? Why are you so inquisitive?"

"Marshall, come on. We're worried about you, I know that you're upset. There's no point in trying to hide it. Now why don't we have a sit down and we can talk about this like grown pups?"

"Chase, I said I'm fine. Gosh, you can be so annoying sometimes. Just leave me alone, okay?" With that, Marshall stormed out of the lookout, Chase shaking his head after him. With a casual glance he looked over at the ice cream and was about to head back to sleep himself but something caught his eye. Hoping he was wrong, Chase rubbed his eye and looked again. Then he picked it up and read the warning label.

 _WARNING: CONTAINS INGREDIENTS NOT SUITABLE FOR CANINES_ , it said.


	6. Chapter 6

Next morning at dawn came a terrible heaving sound, waking up everyone at the lookout. Marshall was groaning and throwing up everywhere, looking even worse than usual. Ryder, usually calm, was panicking and pretty much resisting the urge to scream into his pup pad, which Katie was on the other end of the line.

"I don't know what's wrong with him! Katie, get over here and do something!"

"What do you want me to do when I don't know what issues he has?"

"Just grab some painkiller and anti-nausea medication, shit, just grab the whole first aid kit already!" Ryder was swearing. That's not good, he only ever swears when he's panicked. Zuma was trying to get Marshall to drink a glass of water while Rubble, using Marshall's EMT gear, was doing a medical diagnosis, but so far he could come up with nothing.

Chase's pup house was opposite to Marshall's, so it took him the longest to reach the scene. "Ryder, what's the matter?"

"I, I, I, I don't know, Chase! Marshall's sick and I've got no clue what it is?"

"Food poisoning."

"What?"

"It's food poisoning, Ryder. Last night I saw him eating this," Chase held up the tub of ice cream to give to Ryder.

"Great, just great. KATIE! What do we do for food poisoning?"

"Food poisoning? Well at least I can work with that. I'm on my way, just tell Marshall to hold on a little longer!" The pup pad turned blank, and Ryder was left scrunching his hands into fists, frustrated that he couldn't do anything. Finally after what seemed an eternity, Katie showed up, hands full with first aid and medicine.

"I'm here, Ryder. Care to tell me what Marshall ate?" Ryder showed him the tub of ice cream. "Hmm, while there are some ingredients that might cause issues, there's not enough of it to kill or anything. A few days of rest should do. In the meantime, tell him to take these," Katie handed Ryder a few pills which he gave to Marshall. There was a bit of protesting but finally after everyone's insistence Marshall gave in and took the pills, Soon after, he was fast asleep, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Zuma, Rocky and Rubble went back to try and catch a few more hours of rest while Chase stayed by Marshall's side. Skye decided to join him. Ryder and Katie were discussing Marshall's condition.

"Don't worry. As I've said, it's nothing serious and you shouldn't be too concerned with it. Just make sure he gets plenty of bedrest. That means no rescues."

"I don't get it. I don't even like this brand or flavour of ice cream. I certainly wouldn't buy it either with that warning label on it. Why is it here?"

"I don't know, did Alex or someone bring it over?"

"Alex is away at boarding school, remember?"

"Oh, right. I keep forgetting."

Hearing the news about the ice cream made Chase worry. He had a sneaking suspicion about the origins of the mystery ice cream. _Marshall, if you went and bought that ice cream yourself, you're going to wish that it had killed you, Chase thought_.


	7. Chapter 7

Marshall woke up with another groan for the second time that day. "Oh man, my head again. Stupid ice cream. Next time I should just drink bleach. Where is everyone?" Marshall poked his head out of his fire house. Everyone seemed to be gathered in front of the lookout, and excitedly talking about something. "Great, they've all gone off on some fun activity somewhere and left me behind? Did they even remember I was here?" Marshall laid back his head and bit his lip to prevent a tear coming out, but then came a voice outside his home, one that he didn't recognize.

"Hey, who are you?" Marshall opened his eyes to see a white sheepdog staring at him.

"Who are you?" Marshall responded grumpily.

"My name's Alby, I'm so excited to be joining your rescue team! Your leader Ryder seems like a really nice guy." The white sheepdog raised his paw in a gesture to hand shake with Marshall, with he grudgingly accepted.

"Hey, Marshall, you're awake." Now Ryder and the rest of the PAW Patrol were here. "I see you've met Alby. Alby, this is Marshall, and he's our fire pup. Or was, I guess – he's sick right now and is temporarily off rescues."

"And what, this guy here is going to replace me?" Marshall replied, failing to hide his upset tone.

"On the contrary, Marshall. Alby's our inventor and tinkerer pup, and he can help us improve on many things around here with new inventions." Rocky wagged his tail happily. "I've finally got someone who likes to work with spare parts, just like me! We make great partners." The last sentence earned him a glare from Zuma.

Well anyway, Marshall, I've got to introduce Alby to the rest of the lookout. By the way Alby, about your pup house – what would you like?" Everyone else followed Ryder, leaving Marshall alone once again. Before he could get back to his sulking, however, Chase bounced back in.

"Oh, Marshall. I should ask you, are you feeling better now?"

"All better, Chase. Thank you for your concern."

"I was worried about that ice cream you ate there. You probably don't want to eat anything deadly _by mistake_ again." Chase emphasized the 'mistake' part.

"Yeah, it was unfortunate that the ice cream turned out to be poisonous. Guess I shouldn't eat random things lying on the road, huh?"

"Marshall, it's at least 28 degrees out in the sun. Ice cream would have melted in minutes."

"It probably dropped off of a delivery truck."

"And you just happened to find the ice cream? It's a tiny tub and even I would have a hard time finding it."

"I just happened to be on the road at that time, okay? I saw it bounce off the truck. You ask too many questions."

"That warning label about the ingredients is pretty eye-catching-"

"CLOSE DOOR!" With that, the door of Marshall's pup house slammed down, nearly hitting Chase in the face.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey Rocky, do you happen to have copper wires?"

"Course, Alby. Left over from the time we fixed the windmill. Here you go."

It's been a few days and Marshall's food poisoning was over. Rocky and Alby were working on a project which Alby was keeping secret about. Already Alby had created some new inventions which had helped them a lot, such as a new water-powered jetpack for Skye which saved Ryder a lot of fuel. He'd also renovated the area in front of the lookout for an automatic obstacle detection system that would hopefully clear out anything in the way so Marshall doesn't bump into anything and turn into a canine bowling ball. Hopefully.

It didn't work.

Alby's built his own puphouse with what he called an interdimensional crosslink tesseract, which meant that the inside of his home was about the size of a large mansion. After that, all the other pups wanted their homes expanded, too, so Alby had worked overtime to create tesseracts for each of them. "Wow, I can fit heaps of junk in here!" Rocky had been very pleased with the new addition/expansion, and Zuma had also been happy and decided to add in a pool.

"WHY ON EARTH IS THE POOL RIGHT NEXT TO THE ENTRANCE?"

"Oh, Wocky. You should have told me you were coming." Rocky had stormed off to work with Alby some more.

Meanwhile, Marshall was walking around the lookout trying to look for something interesting to occupy his time in. Chase and Skye were currently spending time out by the trees, which Marshall took care to take a wide berth and avoid them as much as possible. Zuma was lazing about in his new pool. Ryder and Rubble were training.

"Hey, Marshall." Alby and Rocky were waving and saying hi. Marshall gave a half-hearted wave and went off in the other direction.

"Do you get the feeling that Marshall doesn't like me or something?"

"Nonsense, Alby. Marshall likes everyone. Something's probably just bugging him."

"Hmm. Maybe I should talk to him."

* * *

Alby found Marshall lying in the sun, staring at the bay and the endless ocean. He gently gave Marshall a pat on the shoulder.

"AAH!"

"Sorry there, Marshall. Didn't mean to scare you."

"Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

"Marshall, I've got a feeling that we started off on the wrong paw."

"Now why do you say that?"

"Your actions appear to me that you do not like me."

"That's not true, Alby. I just got a lot on my mind, that's all."

"Pray tell me, what has got you so bothered then?"

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"It can't be nothing or you won't be like this. From what I've heard. You're a pretty jolly guy. Something is bugging you."

Marshall glanced over at Chase. He'd never told anyone about this, and he sure as damn wasn't going to tell Alby of all pups. Not that he had anything against him, but he'd only been here for a few days and –

"You like him, don't you?"

"GAH! How did you know? Have you been spying on me?"

You were staring at Chase, or specifically his butt, for the past 30 seconds."

Goddammit. "Well yes, maybe I do have a crush on him. Maybe he doesn't love me back and he's straight as an arrow and I'm pissed about life and I hate everything. Is that so wrong?"

"That's why you've been so mopey over the past few days. Hey, I think I can help."

"How?"

"You could always break them up…"

Marshall shook his head. "Nuh uh. I'm not breaking them up. Skye would not be happy about it. Besides, how would I solve the problem of Chase not liking men?"

"While sexuality is not an easy thing to change, some studies suggest the time that determines whether a person is gay or not is during childhood, right as they exit the toddler age."

"Well newsflash Alby, but we're not kids anymore. How do you expect me to do such a ridiculous thing? Go back in time?" Alby didn't say anything, but raised an eyebrow. "…You're kidding."

"Like I said, Marshall, I'm an inventor pup. In fact, time travel is one of my favourite fields; my previous owner used to mess about with that sort of thing a lot. Of course, what happened was that he got a bit lost in the space-time continuum and I never saw him again…" Alby trailed off and turned away from Marshall. Marshall couldn't see it, but he could wager that Alby had tears in his eyes. He raised a paw to try and comfort Alby, but before he could do so Alby turned back, a forced smile on his face. "Would you believe that I was born in the 1980s?"

"Well, that would explain your slightly formal speech."

"Anyway, Marshall, if you want to, I could build a time machine and send you back a few years to see if you can change anything."

"I really still don't think this is a good plan. What if I get lost like your previous owner?"

"Well then, say hi to him for me, would you?"

"Are you sure that a person's sexuality can be changed?"

"No. Not at all sure, actually. I'm just guessing. An educated guess. No, not even that, just a random guess. In fact, it probably wouldn't even work. Psychology is a very complicated field."

"You're not filling me with confidence here."

"Hey, at least even if it doesn't work, you can call it a chance to re-explore your childhood, am I right?"

"I guess so?"

"Great! I'll see you next week with your time machine." With that, Alby walked away, leaving Marshall wondering what he'd gotten himself into.


	9. Chapter 9

"Ta-da!"

"Alby, this is a remote."

"Yes, but-"

"This is. A. Remote. From. The. TV."

"Well I had to use _some_ kind of object for input! This was the best thing I had, besides on old Simon Says that was bizarrely on the floor of the lookout. I swear I fixed that automatic obstacle detection system…"

"Oh, I might have bumped into it."

"Ugh. Well anyways, this isn't the main device. I've hooked it up to your fire truck so your pup house would be used as the transport vehicle through the fourth dimension. Follow me." Alby didn't wait for an answer and instead ran off towards Marshall's pup house, Marshall right behind him.

"So, you can see that I've hooked up the time travel device to the front of your truck. Here, you can see the screen that would display your space-time coordinates and using the remote here, you can enter in your desired destination." To demonstrate, Alby pushed some buttons on the remote and the television screen mounted next to the fire truck's driver seat sprang to life, displaying the time Alby programmed it to go to: August 12, 2013.

"I feel like I'm in a weird sci-fi show."

"No, I can promise you it's totally real. Need me to pinch you?"

"No thanks. How would that work anyway? We don't exactly have fingers…OW!" Somehow, Alby had managed to pinch Marshall with paws.

"You jerk!"

"What? You got the confirmation you're not dreaming. Now come on." Alby handed the remote to Marshall, who took it gingerly.

"I've stocked your pup house with dried food and drinks, as well as some disguises. I'm not sure if young you and young Chase would recognize you, but there's not many Dalmatians with puffs of smoke for spots. DO NOT talk to your younger self, that can pose a serious risk destroying the universe as we know it. If you have to talk to anyone else, use a disguise." Marshall nodded. He may be clumsy, but he wasn't dumb.

"Alright, I think you're set off to go," Alby said, "All you need to do is to reach 25 miles an hour and the time circuits would activate. When you arrive, hide your fire truck somewhere no one would see. I think there's a cave down the cliff towards the bay…Oh, no…" Marshall turned his head to see what Alby was upset about. To his dismay, Rocky and Zuma were heading towards them.

"Alby! Hey, Alby!"

"You promised to try and overcome your hydrophobia, Rocky! Come back here!"

"Go, go, go!" Alby all but pushed Marshall into the driver's seat. "I'll distract them. Good luck!"

Marshall took a deep breath and stepped on the accelerator, watching the speedometer slowly climb up at 16…18…21…24…at 25, there was a flash of light, and Marshall was gone.


	10. Chapter 10

All looked peaceful down on Adventure Bay. The sun was shining and it was a perfect summer day, and the pups were lounging about. Rubble and Chase were playing Frisbee on the beach.

"I got it, I got it, I got it!" Chase was trying to catch the Frisbee but it flew over his head. Unfortunately, he landed on the ball and comically lost his balance, hitting an open umbrella which shut on him. The Frisbee landed right next to him, though. "Toldja I got it."

It was then that Rubble heard a _mew_ coming from the bay. "Hey, is that a kitten? Sounds like she's in trouble!" Chase agreed. "Let's go help her!" The both of them ran out towards the bridge linking the lookout and the rest of Adventure Bay.

"Uh oh, that kitty's heading out to the deep water! We've got to rescue her!" Rubble said. "Come on! We need Ryder and the rest of the PAW Patrol!" Both of them headed out towards the lookout.

Back down by the beach, a loud noise was heard, even though the source seemed to be nothing. With a bang, a flash, and a "Wooooaaaahhhh!" Marshall's time machine/fire truck/pup house arrived after having just travelled through time.

"Ugh my god, that was terrifying. I need a drink." Marshall said, grabbing a beer from the fridge. "Boy, I sure am glad Alby created those inter-whatsit thingies." Looking out towards the bay, Marshall saw the kitten that Rubble and Chase had seen earlier. "Huh? Oh yeah, I remember that mission. Well, at least I know the kitten would be safe." Looking around, Marshall saw Ryder, Zuma and Skye heading out towards the kitten. "Perfect."

Marshall decided that the first order of operations was to hide his fire truck, so he headed out towards the cave that he knew was underneath the lookout. It was empty, and Marshall carefully backed up into it.

"Ah, perfect. I can see you found the cave." Alby's voice suddenly came out of nowhere, and Marshall jumped. "Gah! Alby? Where are you?"

"The correct question is, when are you, Marshall. I'm still in 2015. However, I do have a tachyon particle emitter which allows me to send a beam into the past and communicate with you. However, I can't do it very far from this cave since tachyons are pretty unstable."

"Okay, but what exactly am I supposed to do? Chase and Skye don't date each other for another year and a half, but how do I get Chase to like me instead of Skye?"

"I don't know, go pleasure him or something."

"WHAT?!"

"If you two are going to be mates, it's not like you won't be doing that to him…"

"How exactly am I supposed to do that? Just walk up to him and start making out? That would be nice, but…"

"No, no. You need to be subtle. Why don't you try and set up a picnic with just you two? Past you, I mean. Not now you."

Marshall glanced out over the bay and saw that Ryder and the team were done rescuing the kitten, and headed out towards Katie's. A perfect opportunity to get the two of them together, Marshall reasoned. "Now let's see, I know I had a picnic basket in here somewhere…" Marshall searched inside his house until he finally found the basket, hidden amongst the other piles of junk he had. Maybe one day he would tidy up, but not now.

Now that he had all the equipment he needed, Marshall just needed to think of a way to get the two of them together. "Hmm…"

"Marshall? Aren't you at the lookout?" Uh oh. Ryder was calling him. Internally, Marshall cursed his bad luck. "Oh, hey Ryder. I'm sitting here to enjoy the lovely sun."

"Well, we need your fire truck, as quick as you can. The kitten we rescued is now stuck up the city hall."

"Hey wait a minute, who's this?" Drat! His younger self was also receiving the call.

"Marshall? Fire truck, and hurry!"

"But…oh, never mind. I'm fired up!" And the line went dead. About 10 seconds later, Marshall saw his younger self driver over the bridge towards city hall. That gave Marshall an idea. "Ooh, perfect." Quickly, Marshall set up the picnic down by the beach. "Ryder and everyone else should return here soon." Marshall decided to wait, and sure enough, the PAW Patrol team were headed back towards the lookout, just as he remembered. Ryder fed them treats while they played jump rope, and Marshall saw his younger self get tangled up. Everyone laughed. Marshall shook his head. "I need to work on that…"

The PAW Patrol were headed back towards what they were doing before the mission, which meant that Chase and Rubble were down playing Frisbee once again, neither of them noticing the Dally spying on them from the hidden cave. Marshall took a deep breath.

"Chase! Hey, Chase!" Chase turned his head. "Huh? Hey Marshall, aren't you playing jump rope with the other pups?"

"Er, yeah, but I wanted to have a discussion with you. Want to eat while we talk about it?" Marshall indicated the basket with his paw. "Sure, why not? Sorry, Rubble. We can play more Frisbee later on, okay?"

"Marshall, you've been eating too much. You look huge." said Chase as he walked next to Marshall. Of course – since Marshall was two years older, he'd grown a lot. "Never mind. Sit down." Chase did so.

"So, what did you want to talk about? Also, why the picnic?" said Chase as he grabbed a sandwich. They might have non-opposable thumbs, but it didn't mean they couldn't pick anything up.

"Well, Chase. It's like this. What do you think of Skye?"

"Skye?" Chase's eyes got a little dreamy. "She's great. So acrobatic, so pretty, so elegant, so delightful…I would love to be with her, but I'm not sure how to ask. Do you think I'm a little young to date, Marshall?"

"Er, no. Not really. I think it's good to start early, actually."

"So, do you think I should ask Skye out on a date?" Unconsciously, Chase's tail started wagging.

"NO! I mean, er, so soon?"

"You're right. I should set up something romantic first. Candles, or flowers, or maybe a nice starry night."

"Wait, Chase, I have to tell you something."

"Mm? What is it, Marshall?"

"I, er, I've got a crush of my own."

"Oh?" Chase chewed thoughtfully, if that was even possible. "Who is it?"

"It's a certain…pup who I've admired for a very long time. Someone who's brave, and courageous, and has dashingly good looks."

"Sounds like he's a very lucky guy."

Marshall almost spit out the drink he was drinking. "WHAT THE FU-Chase, why the hell did you say 'he'?!"

"Oh, sorry. I thought you knew that I knew."

"I don't know that you know! When did you find out?"

"A long time ago. It's really not that hard to tell from your actions."

"Aw man…Chase!"

"What?"

"What do you think?"

"Think of what?"

"Think of being gay?"

"I've got nothing against it." Chase shrugged. "I mean, I'd prefer a girl over a guy any day, but hey, if you're happy with another male, who am I to judge and say you can't be with him?"

"Chase, the guy I like is _you_!"

Now it was Chase's turn to spit out what he was eating. "WHAT?!"

"Well, it's true! I've liked you for a very long time, longer than you'd think."

Chase seemed to go mute, muzzle moving but not saying a word. "But…uh, er, ah, eh, um…"

"So, er, what do you say?" Marshall gave one of his most charming smiles, unaware that something was stuck in his teeth. Chase thought for a long time before answering.

"Look, Marshall, I'm flattered, but I don't see you that way. Sure you have a nice body and all, and I especially like the way your tail curls around your butt…" Marshall blushed and sat down. "But I like Skye, and I'd rather be with Skye than you. Sorry, bud." Chase started to walk away, and Marshall bit his lip to keep from saying something he'd regret.

Chase turned around. "Although, there is one thing I'd like to try." Without warning, Chase leaned in and kissed Marshall. It was electrifying, and Marshall closed his eyes to savour the fact that Chase, _Chase_ of all people, was currently kissing him. It felt so good and his lips were like heaven and Marshall wanted it to never end, but eventually Chase pulled away.

"There. I'm sorry I don't quite love you back, Marshall, but I hope that kiss satisfied you. Now, I'm going to go play Frisbee with Rubble. Want to join?" Marshall shook his head, wanting to enjoy that moment a bit more. "Suit yourself." With that, Chase headed away. Marshall gave himself a bit of time to calm down before heading back to his pup house.


	11. Chapter 11

"So, the mission was a failure – I kind of expected it – but at least you got a kiss. It's better than nothing." Marshall was currently back and talking with Alby through tachyon communications.

"Yeah, and I suppose Chase being happy is good enough for me. Maybe I can't spend the rest of my days with him but I'm kind of meh about it now. Also, he's a terrible kisser."

"You said it was heaven."

"It's Chase. I still love him, and I'd treasure that moment forever. Doesn't mean he can kiss, though."

"Oh boy, I wonder how he managed with Skye."

"I've never actually seen them kiss."

"Hmm. Well, what are you going to do now?"

"Well, now that I've got a time travelling device, I thought it'd be fun to blast off into the other time periods. Maybe the 1730s, when Adventure Bay was founded, or perhaps far into the future to see what the town becomes."

"That's certainly a lot more interesting than being in a hot air balloon, if you ask me."

"I don't even like heights." Marshall shivered as he remembered the many times he'd had to dangle from Skye's helicopter for a rescue mission. "So, how's Chase doing?"

"He's currently with Skye in her helicopter, hovering above Adventure Bay. It's very picturesque, actually."

"Oh. What is with everyone and flying?"

Alby chucked. "So, I guess you won't be returning to 2015 anytime soon?"

Marshall shook his head. "I'll be back eventually. But not now. I'll miss you, Alby. Thanks for everything."

Alby smiled. "Goodbye, Marshall. And one last thing-" Alby held up a photo of a guy in a lab coat. "If you see this guy, tell him that his pet is waiting for him in 2015."

Marshall nodded. "Thanks again, Alby." With that, Marshall climbed into the driver's seat, set his destination, and accelerated to 25 miles per hour and blasted off into the streams of time, shouting, "BEST RETIREMENT PLAN EVER!"

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Yes, this is the epilogue. Thanks to everyone who read through this story, liked, reviewed and favourited!


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